After all, you can find plenty of smaller and less-expensive items to help you fight bugs, guard against the sun, and shrug off rain. Our favorite canopy tent is a simply designed, comfortable shelter that offers protection from bugs, sun, and rain. Most of the cheap 10×10 slant leg tents weigh about 25 pounds, so you can assume the material is extremely thin and delicate, making the tent susceptible to breaking after minimal use, especially if you’re using it in windier conditions. It’s also important to note that nearly all recreational-grade tents — no matter if they’re straight leg or slant leg — use thin steel frames, which are significantly weaker than anodized aluminum frames of similar weight. Aluminum tent legs not only have a larger leg diameter (1” for steel vs. 2” for aluminum) but the thickness (or gauge) of aluminum is twice that of steel. That team is also pretty helpful to have when our marketing team needs to explain why a straight leg canopy has more structural integrity than a slant leg canopy.
Most new tents incorporate this ventilated canopy design to increase airflow and reduce the trapping of hot air, helping to keep those in the shade cooler and more comfortable. The most popular product in their line is the 10×10 Instant Slant Leg Tent with a blue canopy top. It is made with a steel construction frame and polyester material for the canopy, which is in line with just about every shade tent on the market today. The frame is that of a pyramid structure, which are generally found in all value brand canopy tents as they require less material to manufacture vs. that of a full truss system and as a result can keep the price lower. Since 2015, I’ve tested camping shelters and large car-camping tents on weekend trips involving more than a dozen families, and I have talked to dozens more about their tent travails.
The tent roof is made of polyester taffeta treated with a DWR (durable water repellent) coating. The walls are made of fine no-see-um nylon mesh edged with polyester taffeta. This polyester material is less susceptible to UV damage than the nylon that previous versions of this tent incorporated, but it generally has a feel that is not quite as soft. Despite the change in fabric, this REI shelter still weighs just 13 pounds, several pounds less than many others of this type.
Though the Clam Quick-Set Escape lacks the versatility of our other picks—it has only a single doorway—its heavy-duty materials and construction make it more durable and likely more appropriate for people who regularly camp in windy or rainy weather. It’s constructed with heavy-duty 210-denier poly oxford walls and the heftiest bug-blocking no-see-um mesh we’ve encountered in any tent. The thicker, darker netting also makes the whole structure shadier, even without the optional side panels. Like the REI model, the L.L.Bean tent has ample interior pockets, a lantern hook, and a roomy carrying bag, though the bag is of the typical drawstring-sack variety. The shelter has a 10-by-10-foot footprint—the most common size for tents of this type—and a peak height of 7 feet. It will shelter a standard-size picnic table, but with little room to spare.
So, right off the bat, you’re saving money because there is less soft goods material. The first trip was an early-February expedition to Indian Cove Campground in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, where our highly exposed group campsite made daytime temperatures in the high 70s feel like the 90s. We used the shelters for sun protection, setting up camp chairs inside one and a play mat and toddler toys inside another, and placing the large Clam shelter over a picnic table piled with markers and coloring books. One thing we love about Ozark Trail canopy tents are the accessories that can be added to the shelters.
Compared with our top day-tent pick, the L.L.Bean Woodlands Screen House uses arguably superior materials; it also comes with an unsurpassed warranty. It always cost more than our top pick, but the price has gone up another $150 since we first tested it. No matter what you call them, though, a good one should protect you from the trifecta of outdoor discomforts—sun, rain, and bugs—while you’re picnicking or camping, and it should be intuitively designed and pleasant to sit in. A lower roof makes this shelter feel notably smaller than our top pick, but it’s also durably made and ready to pair with a superior rain fly (sold separately). My shoulders did not chafe nor rub or irritate while walking and I did not get any bruising on my hips.
I managed to fit my headlamp, lighter, map, compass, and some tp in the pocket. Prior to taking it out on the trail, I did give it two coats of silicone spray so that it would shed water. Whether you’re planning an epic thru-hike or an out-and-back weekend excursion, this guide will help you get started on your Missouri adventure. Mostly divided into linked sections, the trail winds through 390 miles of rolling hills, stone bluffs and cool streams in central and southern Missouri.
I prefer to use my local outfitters, suppliers, and bookstores for most ozark trail chair backpacking purchases. In the following paragraphs I share just a few design features that, in my opinion, make this a well-designed product. The Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking ozark trail backpack Tent is on the cheaper end of the spectrum. But as you look at different slant leg tents, you’ll also notice the frames use less steel and have fewer plastic connection points. Here’s a sketch one of our engineers made to explain the slant leg design.
Fellow campers consistently gravitated toward the REI shelter over the L.L.Bean. “There’s less scissor material, which means less total metal – and that’s why some of these companies can sell a tent for under $100,” Gemmell said. There’s a reason why makers of professional-grade canopies only use straight-leg frames. “When the legs are slanted, it’s completely dependent on those connection points,” Gemmell said. Digging our toes in the sand under one of the best full-overhead coverage beach tents on the market.